acting

Without a doubt, this is my worst nightmare in book form. I gotta say I am not a big fan of the clown as a Christian emissary. Maybe I am going out on a limb, but is this REALLY an effective ministry tool? If it is, can someone show me some data?

In this particular book, there are a few pages on how NOT to frighten children. The mere fact this is a possibility should be reason enough to re-think packing Jesus’ message in clown form. Maybe the clowns can be an illustration of what Hell is all about. If that is the point, I promise to never skip mass again.

I’m not sure a book can tell you how to be funny, whoops, I mean really funny, but this book does. It literally tells you what is funny. Example: simple mindedness also known as a “nice way to say stupid”. On the plus side, there are discussions about some excellent talent such as Lily Tomlin, Steve Martin, Johnny Carson, and Jack Benny. For what it’s worth, I would think this book is more about improv and comedic acting than just “being funny”. Even for 1988, this one had too many references to shows in the 1960s and earlier. (Find me a kid that knows about the show Laugh In heck, even their parents probably won’t know.)

Auditioning for TV: How to Prepare for Success as a Television Actor
Begley and MacCrae
1955

Wow, a career book from 1955. This was submitted from a Catholic high school library. Careers in television are absolutely reliant on relevancy and currency. The industry has changed drastically since the 1950s. I mean, a career as a TV actor was just becoming an option when this book was published! It’s an interesting historical look at the industry, but useless in a Catholic high school library (or any other high school library, for that matter!).